Clayton Burrows, Growing Washington Director Clayton is an 8th generation farmer/rancher and has served as the volunteer director of Growing Washington since its inception. Originally from the high plains and river valleys of Colorado, his agricultural roots are deep and diverse. Clayton created Growing Washington to make good on a promise he made when a teenager to farm with his friends and continue listening to Willie Nelson until the rest of the population came to its senses. He is still farming with his friends and Willie is still on tour. Clayton oversees all of the day to day activities of Growing Washington, and also serves as lead hand-weeder and deputy-chief egg washer. Clayton works part-time for Washington State University 's Small Farm Program, serving as the statewide coordinator and instructor for the popular Cultivating Success community and academic educational program and working closely with immigrant and new farmer populations. He has served as chair of the Sustainable Agriculture Committee of the Washington State Food and Farming Network, has been a member of the Washington State Small Farms Advisory Board, is currently on the Board of the Washington State Farmers Market Association, is on the advisory board for the Puget Sound Food Network, is a member of the Washington State Farmers Market Action Team, and has been rated as one of the top ten farmers in the Seattle markets. Clayton has served as a lead farmer in Olympia , working to pass and fund both WSU's BIOAg Program and Washington 's Local Farms – Healthy Kids Legislation. He has also worked to educate our Washington Congressional Delegation in D.C. about the needs of WA farmers. Prior to Growing Washington, Clayton worked as the director of SE Alaska 's largest watershed partnership and spent several years working for legal firms while earning various academic degrees from various universities. In his spare time Clayton enjoys sunsets, still water, little dogs, dry fly fishing, tumbling rocks he finds on shores, magazines with lots of pictures, tending fires, reading, writing, a sunny spring day…. pickin' cotton, raisin' hell and balin' hay .

Erik Gibson-Snyder, Local Choice Food Box Manager and South 47 Farm Manager Erik hails from Nebraska, lived in Montana, now lives in Seattle, and has absolute intentions of someday returning to Montana to be a blueberry farmer and a doctor's husband. He attempts to manage his farming life with his family life, and much of what he does is focused on providing support and attention to Jen and Grace, his wife and daughter. That said, when the girls are away he is the first to show up at the farm and the last to leave. His true passion for farming, and his true enjoyment of the art of organic agriculture helps balance out the days when the turnips are wormy, the voles eat all the seeds in flats, the tractor breaks, and the transplants just died. Erik's father, Doug, was the first person in the family to leave the family farm in Nebraska, opting for a less hectic and more predictable life of teaching middle-school children. Against his father's advice, Erik returned to farm life joining the Growing Washington team after participating in the Cultivating Success program at Washington State University. Prior to farming he was the soccer coach at Evergreen State College and The University of Montana. In two short years he has helped double production and total sales, and nearly triple the size of the CSA. Because of his systemic approach, Erik has greatly improved our record keeping, our crop planning and projecting, our approach to crop selection and management, has influenced the way that our team farms, and has encouraged everyone to grow food with a sense of both purpose and efficiency.

Gabrielle Santerre
Farmer and Vice-President of Corporate Sales
Gabby was working a well-paying desk job until, to her surprise, she awoke one morning to the realization that she wanted to be a farmer, and has been in love with delicious local food and direct-market farming ever since.

A Pacific Northwest native who abides in Capitol Hill, Gabby helped carve out Growing Washington's original farm site in King County, growing, weeding, harvesting, selling, and otherwise loving her job.

Although she enjoys farm work (and who doesn't?), Gabby's true love is handing the finished product over to her customers and all the perks that go along with it - watching a child's face as he eats his first everbearing strawberry, listening to rave reviews of the purple haze carrots, telling a customer how to prepare lacinato kale, and the satisfaction of knowing that the cash going in her till is helping to support a group of dedicated and hard-working farmers.

Gabby will be helping to manage the increasingly successful King County Local Choice Food Box in 2010. Watch out, she may appear at a farmers market near you, trying to convince you to buy a share!

Kira Doley
Farmer and Executive Director of Public Relations, Marketing and Customer Service
Kira makes the rest of the Growing Washington team look like miscreants. Her kind, consistent and positive energy is as dependable as the sun. Like the sun, this energy is hard to match in terms of importance and impact on a group of people. Kira has quickly become integral to the overall management and development of our projects, but is also the first to volunteer to work a market or spend time hand-weeding on one of our farms. Very versatile and quick to learn, Kira helps write grants, design egg cartons, create intricate budgets in Excel, ask tough questions, put together CSA boxes, and compose articulate, edit-free writing for a variety of organizational needs.

Kira currently lives in Seattle. Prior to moving to the Emerald City she lived in Tacoma and served as the manager of the Tacoma Farmers Market. She also served as the interim director of the Washington State Farmers Market Association for a spell, and currently helps administer and implement the activities of Washington Tilth Producers. Kira grew up in Whatcom County and still maintains strong ties to the northwest corner of the state. Her unique situation allows her to both live in the city and contribute in the country.

Kira enjoys cooking/eating, being outdoors, exercising, hanging out with her friends and lover, doodling, and generally being a pleasant person to be around. In her spare time Kira is a devout Def Leppard fan (that's a lie), is cuckoo for laser tag (total fabrication), dresses up like Elton John to cheer up friends (not true) and volunteers her time with the Rural Beets Project, holding west coast style breakdancing workshops at various Eastern Washington dude ranches (this last one's actually true).

Kristine Robson
Farmer and Vice-President of Corporate Sales
Kristine grew up on a corn and soybean farm in Iowa and moved to Seattle four years ago, after graduating with a Bachelor's degree in environmental science. Kristine worked for several environmental nonprofits, but decided to get back to her roots by giving organic farming a try. After completion of the Cultivating Success introductory course, Kristine took the opportunity to work for Growing Washington at the 21 Acres site. While working on the farm, Kristine spent her time planting, weeding, harvesting, and processing the crops, as well as providing on-the-ground coordination of farm tasks. While she especially enjoys transplanting, Kristine just really loves working outside in the sun (or rain), getting her hands dirty, and producing quality organic food.

Kristine is also the best-dressed member of the farm team (see photo above), will occassionally ride her bicycle 20 miles to work, learned spanish in an 18 week carrot-washing course and possesses the it-ain't-done-'til-it's-done-right mentality any God-loving Iowan would be proud of--if Iowan's believed in pride.